On the word Consubstantial.

Well, it’s been six months since we started using the new translation
of the Roman Missal. What do you think? Okay, some of these prayers
are a real mouthful to try to say, but for the most part I find the new
translation quite beautiful and expressive, and mostly an improvement. I
especially like one word in particular, in the Creed, a word that
raised howls of protest: “People don’t talk that way! No one will know
what it means!” The word? – “Consubstantial” – as in, speaking of the
Son, that He is “consubstantial with the Father”.

It’s true that we don’t talk this way in everyday conversation.
In fact, the word was coined by the Church for this specific use in the
creed. But after six months of time it’s starting to sound pretty
natural. It fairly rolls off the tongue as we profess our faith
together, about the Almighty Father Who created all things, and His
eternally begotten Son through Whom He created and Who became incarnate
to save that creation, and their Holy Spirit Who fills and sustains and
moves that creation.

So it is no longer true that nobody talks that way. We all talk
that way when we profess our faith in the triune God. But do we know
what it means – “consubstantial” – ? “Of the same substance”. The Son
is of the same substance as the Father, and likewise the Holy Spirit.

What is “substance”? That which something is, in its essential
reality; the true being of a thing. So, since God is by definition
infinite Being, and since there can only be one infinite Being (two or
more beings could not each be everything), therefore there can only be
one God, one divine being or substance. But does this mean that there
can only be one divine person? Well, is “person” the same thing as
“substance”? If substance is the essential reality of a thing, its true
being, what is a person?

Maybe “what is a person?” is the wrong question. A person is a
“who”, not a “what”. For instance, if I ask “what are you?”, you would
answer something like “I’m a human being, a member of the species homo
sapiens; arms, legs, heart and lungs, a mind more or less tethered to a
physical brain.” But if I ask “who are you?”, you would answer
differently, wouldn’t you? You would not talk about those physical
characteristics of being human that you have in common with all other
human beings, you would talk about what makes you … you! This would
involve who you are related to, where you’ve been and what you’ve done,
your likes and dislikes, your abilities and disabilities.

What am I? A human being. Who am I? A human person.

So, if “person” doesn’t mean the same thing as “being”, could the one
divine being exist as three divine persons? Theoretically, sure. Why
not?

And since Jesus Christ revealed it: speaking of His heavenly Father, of
Himself as the Son, of the Holy Spirit, and of these three as one …
And since Jesus Christ promised that the Holy Spirit would lead the
Church into the fullness of truth and understanding … I accept it, as
logically possible, and as revealed truth.

… I accept the Scriptures, and the Church’s understanding of
those Scriptures as spelled out in the doctrinal definitions of
Ecumenical Councils such as the one that met at Nicaea in the year 325
AD. The bishops of the universal Church convened to consider the
teaching of Arius, an Egyptian priest who was saying that the Son of God
is not God, and that that therefore the one God is not a Trinity of
Persons. The bishops consulted the Scriptures, they consulted all the
evidence of what the Christian faith had been going back to the Apostles
– sermons and letters of the Church Fathers and theologians,
declarations of local councils, catechisms, rituals used for baptism –
and they debated with Arius and his followers who were present for the
deliberations. The final decision? Arius was teaching a an erroneous
novelty, not the faith of the Church. And just to be clear about what
the faith of the Church was, they wrote up a statement known since as
the Nicene Creed. Let’s say it now together, confident that the Holy
Spirit promised by the Lord Jesus to lead us into all truth led the
Fathers of Nicaea to this statement of faith.

I believe in one God,
The Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
The Only Begotten Son of God,
Born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
through Him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
He came down from heaven,
(Here all bow)
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
(Here all rise)
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
He suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead
and His kingdom will have no end.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
Who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
Who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
Who has spoken through the prophets.
I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come.
Amen.

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Web-Page Comments, Dialogues, Latest Updates

I also have been cheered by the changes in the Creed.
"Consubstantial" is straight from the Latin Mass: "consubstantialem
Patri." I was disappointed that the editor of "Catholic New York" our
archdiocesan newspaper, didn't point this out to a letter writer who
complained about the use of "consubstantial." The new translation of the
Mass is an improvement and more faithful to the Latin and the Church's
teachings, as you so clearly explain. The change back to "I believe" is
also good; "we believe" was an unjustified alteration in my humble
opinion. We are all together at Mass and in unison, each of us expresses
that "I" believe.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Converted Page to SBI! Release 3.0 BB 2.0.

Date: Wed Nov 26 2014From: Vic BiorsethComment:

Changes pursuant to changing the website URL
and name from
Thinking Catholic Strategic
Center to
Catholic American Thinker.

Pulled the trigger on the 301 MOVE IT option
June 1, 2014. Working my way through all the webpages. .

Regards,

Vic

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Never be lukewarm.Life itself demands passion.He who is indifferent to God has already forfeited his soul.He who is indifferent to politics has already forfeited his liberty.In America, religion is not mere window dressing and citizenship is not a spectator sport.Do not allow our common destiny as a whole people to just happen without your input.

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Atheist Genesis:

In the beginning there was nothing, and nothing happened to nothing.
And then nothing accidentally exploded and created everything.
And then some bits of everything accidentally encountered other bits of everything and formed some new kinds of everything.
And then some bits of everything accidentally arranged themselves into self-replicating bits of everything.
And then some self-replicating bits of everything accidentally arranged themselves into dinosaurs.
See?

“ … for I have sworn upon
the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind
of man.” wrote Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Dr. Benjamin Rush in
the year of our Lord 1800. The context
involved resistance to any form of Christianity or Deism legally imposing
itself throughout the USA. We must wonder what he might say
about our current government's forced imposition of strict secularism – i.e.,
anti-theism – throughout the USA. I submit that legally enforced secularism of society, like theocracy, like Marxism,
and like Islam, is, precisely, a form of tyranny over the mind of man.Nothing good can come from the religious cleansing of Judeo-Christian society. Government imposed secularism is just another form of theocracy.